Folding apparatus



March 31, 1964 R. 5. ST. DENNY ETAL 3,127,165

FOLDING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 1'7, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS ATTORNEYS March 31, 1964 R. B. ST. DENNY ETAL 3,127,165

FOLDING APPARATUS Filed 001;. 17, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 55 o l 1 o Ilia-.4- 43 35 as 4 s3 38 & l3 5 2 v 5 33 F2 42 34 f \5 I w I'Z INVENTORS RALPH E). $T.DENN 29 @FTZANK HB BYMM ATTORNEYS March 31, 964

Filed Oct. 17, 1961 R. B. sT. DENNY ETAL 3,

FOLDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS Q RALPH E ST. DENNY d2" FRANK H. Brzowu MMWM ATTORNEYS March 31, 1964 R. B. sT. DENNY ETAL 3,127,155

FOLDING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS IZALPH B. STDENHY gflf-zmqm H Bzowu BYM ' ATTORNEYS United States Patent ()fiice 3,127,165 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 Filed Got. 17, 1961, Ser. N 145,556 2 fliaims. (Cl. Till-66) The present invention relates to a folding apparatus and more particularly to a folding apparatus for creasing and folding paper and the like into predetermined sections.

Heretofore, folding apparatus has been used to fold a single piece of paper along a crease or fold line. In conventional folding machines used at the present time, the paper is generally fed or passed between pinch rollers in which the paper is folded along a crease or fold line that has been formed in the paper, with the entire mass of the paper passing between the pinch rollers. In such an apparatus, although the paper has been folded where desired because the whole mass of paper passes between the pinch rollers and the folded edges of paper are thicker than the trailing edge, such a method of folding the paper invariably wrinkles the paper.

In accordance with the present invention, the present folding apparatus has as one of its objectives the elimination of the above-mentioned difficulty.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a folding apparatus in which a flat sheet of paper may be provided with a score or crease line therein and then folded along this crease line in a manner wherein only the leading edge of the paper along the folded portion passes between the creasing means and the fold means and not the entire mass of the paper sheet.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro vide a folding apparatus for folding a sheet of paper along a predetermined crease or score line therein without causing wrinkling of the paper along this fold and without causing the whole mass of paper to pass between the pinch rolls simultaneously.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a folding apparatus from which a paper fold can be made from a single fiat sheet of paper folded along score lines formed therein in which the paper is perfectly creased along the score lines without any wrinkling or irregularity of the paper and without unwanted additional creases therein.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a folding apparatus for converting a single piece of paper from a flat shape into a predetermined number of folds so that the finished paper product may be quarter folded, for example.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a folding apparatus in which a flat piece of paper is first provided with fold lines by scoring or the like at predetermined intervals therein, and thereafter folded along these lines to form a brochure or folder in which a fold may be provided therein by the folded edge only passing between creasing rollers, as distinguished from the whole mass of paper simultaneously passing between the rollers to thereby provide a substantially perfect crease or fold in the paper without obtaining numerous wrinkles which are generally a by product of folding machines in present use today.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a folding apparatus that will provide predetermined fold lines in a flat piece of paper, and thereafter fold the paper along one fold line and thereafter again fold the paper a second time along another fold line so as to form a double fold in the paper without causing the paper to wrinkle along the double fold therein.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a folding apparatus to produce a paper brochure which may consist of a single sheet of paper or a plurality of sheets of paper all simultaneously folded.

It is another object of the present invention to pro vide a folding apparatus in which a single sheet of fiat paper or a plurality of sheets are fed into the machine and a first fold line or crease is provided in the paper, and thereafter a second crease or fold line is provided therein, and the paper is folded along these creases and the paper that is fed into the machine is positively controlled or gripped by the apparatus from a point before it is first folded until the second fold is provided therein, and the article is completed and ready for use.

In accordance with the present invention, means are provided for folding a flat sheet of paper between complementary first folding means which pull the paper into the machine and make a crease or fold therein as the leading edge of the paper is gripped by the complementary means. The complementary folding means cause the paper to be folded upon itself, or in other words, to be folded in half or half folded. Thereafter, guide means are provided for turning the paper into a plane perpendicular to the leading edge of the paper passing out of the complementary folding means, and for directing the leading edge of the paper containing the fold therein into second folding means.

The second folding means have creasing means disposed to grasp the leading edge of the folded paper before it completely leaves the first folding means and form a score line or crease therein in a direction extending perpendicular to the first fold formed in the paper. As the paper passes through the creasing means, the leading edge thereof adjacent the crease line formed therein is directed along second folding means and the leading edge of the paper is gripped or grasped thereby and pulled therealong before the trailing edge of the paper is completely creased to fold the paper upon it self again to form a second fold therein which is one quarter of the size of the original flat sheet of paper so that the original fiat sheet of paper is thus quarter folded.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a folding apparatus for producing a folded article from a flat sheet of paper in which the paper during the entire operation is always positively gripped in the apparatus.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the apparatus looking at it from the right side of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the apparatus taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 2, illustrating a flat sheet of paper just as it is being fed into the machine before a fold is formed therein;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4 illustrating the manner of feeding the fiat sheet of paper between mating pinch rolls to form a first half fold in the paper, with the folded paper shown in dotted lines being guided toward scoring rollers to form a crease line therein for forming a second fold or quarter fold in the paper;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detail view illustrating the paper as it leaves the scoring rollers shown in FIG. 5,

with the leading edge of the paper being pulled along by a V-belt drive which grips the paper therebetween;

FIG. 7 is a detail view of the creasing rollers shown in FIG. 6, taken along lines '77 therein, as the paper passes between the scoring rollers;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of FIG. 6 illustrating the configuration of the paper after the leading edge has passed through the scoring rollers and is positively gripped by the V-belt drive and before forming the second fold or quarter fold in the paper;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary detail section taken along lines 99 of FIG. 6 illustrating the leading edge of the paper with the upper edge thereof being gripped by the V-belt drive and pulled between the idler rollers that form the second fold in the paper;

FIG. 10 illustrates a fiat sheet of paper with printing thereon showing in dot dash quarter fold lines formed in the paper by the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a sheet of paper formed into a half fold by the apparatus of the present invention after it has passed through the initial pinch rolls shown in FIG. and

FIG. 12 illustrates the sheet of paper converted into quarter fold size after it has completely passed through the creasing rolls and has reached the position shown in dot dash lines in FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral generally designates the frame of the apparatus having a horizontal table, tray or bed 11 supported by vertical support members 12. The table 11 carries two horizontal pinch rollers 13 and 14 (see FIGS. 2, 4) which rollers extend transversely or across the width of table 11 and are disposed above and in spaced relationship with the top of the table as can be clearly seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. The rollers 13 and 14 are secured to rotatable shafts or axles 15 and 16 respectively (see FIGS. 1 and 2) extending beyond the opposite ends of the rollers and carried in frame members 17 and 18 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) disposed on opposite sides of table 11.

The roller 13 is provided with spring loaded means 19 (see FIG. 4) for adjusting the spacing between the adjacent or complementary sides of rollers 13 and 14 which are disposed side by side or in lateral alignment with each other. The spring loaded means 19 are well known in the art and are used to properly space the distance between the rollers depending upon whether it is desired to feed a single sheet of paper between the rollers or a plurality of sheets of paper between the rollers. In the present invention the apparatus is generally designed to fold from one to twenty-four sheets or more simultaneously so that the spring loaded means 19 are provided to accommodate the predetermined number of sheets by properly spacing the distance between the rollers 13 and 14.

The rollers 13 and 14 are rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 1 and 4 by drive means which consist of sprocket wheels 21 (FIG. 1) and 22 fixed on the ends of shafts 15 and 16 respectively, and a chain drive (FIG. 1) 23 adjacent the left side of the machine, when looking at the apparatus from the right side of FIG. 1. The chain drive 23 in turn is driven by a belt drive generally designated 24 (FIG. 1) adjacent the chain drive by a motor, not shown. The arrows in FIG. 1 show the direction of movement of the belt drive. The belt drive 23 also turns in the direction of the arrows shown in FIG. 1, so that actuation or rotation of rollers 13 and 14 (FIG. 4) will frictionally engage the leading edge of a piece of paper fed between the rollers and pull the paper therebetween.

A horizontally extending knife 26 (see FIGS. 3, 4, 5) is suspended below table 11 for forcing or pushing a sheet of paper between pinch rolls 13 and 14. The knife 26 is connected through members 27 (FIG. 3) and 28 to an eccentric member 29 (FIG. 3) which in turn is rotatably driven by the belt means 24. The knife is actuated upwardly to the position shown in FIG. 5 to lift a sheet of paper between rollers 13 and 14- by conventional means not forming a part of this invention. A micro switch, not shown, preferably energizes a solenoid 30 (FIG. 1) suspended from the table 11 to lift a latch or the like and allow a single revolution clutch 31 to actuate the knife into the position shown in FIG. 5, to push the paper to be folded through the set of pinch rollers 13 and 14 at predetermined intervals.

The knife 26 is disposed in alignment with the space rollers 13 and 14 as best seen in FIG. 5 and extends or moves above the table through a transverse slot 32 disposed in the table. If desired, of course, the knife may be manually operated.

A flat sheet of paper 33 (FIG. 4) to be folded is fed onto the table 11 from a conveyor tray, not shown, to the position shown in FIG. 4, with the leading or forward edge of the paper adjacent the horizontal stop 34 thereon. It is, of course, realized that the invention is not limited to converting into folds only a single sheet of paper, but any number of sheets of paper may be fed onto the table and stacked one upon the other so that when the machine is put into operation all the sheets of paper are simultaneously lifted from the flat position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 5, by knife 26 into or between rollers 13 and 14, after which the pinch or friction rollers grip the paper adjacent the knife edge to thereby fold or crease all the sheets in a plane parallel to the knife edge. Thus, it will be seen that pinch rollers 13 and 14 cause a fiat sheet of paper to be folded into a half fold or folded upon itself perpendicular to the line or direction of feed of the paper onto the table 11.

Disposed directly above rollers 13 and 14 and carried by table 11 is a transversely extending hood or guide member 35 (FIGS. 4, 5). Guide member 35 has a V-rib 36 therein with the right leg of the V being arcuate or curved as at 37, and terminating in a substantially elongated horizontal section 38. Section 37 is disposed adjacent the right side of the roller 13, while the horizontal portion 38 extends completely beyond and to the right of roller 14. The guide 35 is positioned vertically of the apex of the V almost in contact with the roller 13 and portion 38 disposed in spaced relationship with roller 14 so that the leading perpendicular edge of the fold 39 (FIG. 5) formed in the sheet of paper 33 and coming out of H the rollers will come in contact with the guide and be bent or turned to the right (FIG. 5) and over and above roller 14.

Disposed to the right of the pinch rollers are a set of complementary mating scoring rollers 40 and 41 (FIGS. 4 to 7). Creasing or scoring roller 40 is a thin circular disc fixed for rotation on a horizontal shaft 42 while roller 41 is cylindrical in shape and fixed for rotation on a shaft 43 (FIGS. 3, 7). The disc 40 extends parallel to the length of table 11. Scoring disc 40 is disposed midway of the length of roll 41 and directly below it so that when a leading edge of the folded piece of paper is fed between the rollers from the end of portion 38 of guide 35 which guides the paper between the rollers, they will form a crease line or score line in the paper at right angles to the first fold formed in the paper. Shafts 42 and 43 of the rollers extend between the opposite sides of the table and are rotatably supported thereby. The left ends of shafts 42 and 43, when looking at the apparatus from the right side of FIG. 1, are provided with sprocket wheels 44 and 45 rotatably driven by the endless chain 23, shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

Referring to FIG. 6, the upper cylindrical roller is provided with conventional spring roller means 46 to space or adjust the distance between the rollers 40 and 41. The spring roller means 46 are provided to space the distance between the rollers in accordance with the number of sheets of paper fed therebetween. For example, the spacing would be greater if twenty-four sheets were fed simultaneously between the rollers as compared with the spacing when a single sheet of paper is fed therebetween.

Scoring roller 41 is provided with spaced V-shaped grooves 50 (FIG. 8) adjacent its opposite ends in which are disposed two endless V-shaped belts 51 (FIG. 8). The other ends of the V-shaped belts are carried in grooves 52 (FIGS. 4, 6) disposed in the lower end of rotatable mating idler rollers 53 (FIGS. 8, 9) carried on vertical shafts 54 (FIGS. 4, 9). The direction of rotation of the V-shaped belts 51 is indicated by arrows in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6. The shafts 54 are rotatably suppored by a horizontal frame member or assembly 55 (FIGS. 2 to 6) mounted on table 11. Conventional spring loaded means 56 (FIGS. 2, 3) are provided for adjusting the space or distance of idler rollers 53 from each other.

It will be noted that the idler rollers 53 are disposed beyond the right side of table 11 as can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 8, and below roller 41 and receive the right hand portion or end of the V-belts 51 at the lower end of the idler rollers, so that this portion of the belt extending around the rollers 53 is disposed in a horizontal plane. The left portion of the V-belts 51 extends over the cylindrical scoring roller 41 so that this portion of the belts is disposed in a vertical plane. Both V-belts and the idler rollers 53 and the structure 55 which supports these rollers are substantially identical with the space 58 (see FIGS. 3 and 9) between the rollers in alignment with the scoring disc 40.

The arrangement of the V-belts 51 on rollers 41 and 53 progressively positions the inner portions 59 (FIGS. 2, 6, 8) of each belt adjacent each other until the belts mate at rollers 53 so that the second fold or crease line 60 (FIGS. 8, 9) is gripped between the belt portions 59 as the leading edge of the sheet of paper leaves rollers 4b and 41 (FIG. 6), and the belts pull the sheet of paper from the scoring rollers. The belts thereafter pull the leading edge of the paper between them and rollers 53 which form the second quarter fold in the paper.

A vertically disposed thin support arm 61 (FIG. 6) is carried by table 11 to receive the folded paper thereon. Member 61 is disposed in alignment with and below space 58 between rollers 53, the folded paper after being completely folded by passing between rollers 53 dropping off onto the arm 61.

In operation, when it is desired to fold a flat sheet of paper in the folding apparatus of the present invention to form it into quarter fold size, the flat sheet of paper is fed from a conveyor or the like, not shown, on table 11 to the position shown in FIG. 4, with the leading edge of the paper adjacent stop 34. Thereafter, the knife 26 is reciprocated or actuated by the eccentric 2.9 and moves up through slot 32 in the table to the position shown in FIG. 5. The upward movement of the knife 26 lifts and pushes the paper 33 into the nip of pinch rollers 13 and 14 as clearly shown in FIG. 5, the knife edge causing the paper to be peaked along a predetermined line extending parallel to the direction of feed of the paper onto the table 11. The pinch rollers positively grip the peak of the paper and pull it between the rollers, thereby causing a crease or fold 39 to be made in the paper so that the paper is folded in half upon itself. Thereafter, the rotation of the pinch rollers progressively feeds the entire sheet of paper through the rolls.

Before the trailing edge of the paper leaves the pinch rollers, the leading edge 39 is turned 90 from the vertical to a horizontal position by portion 37 of the guide member or deflector as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. The leading edge of the paper 39 thereafter is directed by portion 38 between the scoring rollers 40 and 41 before the trailing edge of the paper leaves pinch rollers 13 and 14 so that the paper is always under positive control once it enters the folding apparatus.

The rotation of the scoring disc roller 40 and cylindrical roller 41 pulls the front edge of the paper therebetween and progressively forms a second crease or fold line 69 (FIGS. 6 and 8) in the sheet of paper 33 in a direction parallel to the line of feed of the paper. This fold line 66 is disposed in the paper at right angles to the first fold line formed in the paper along fold 39 so that the paper is again folded upon itself to form a quarter fold folder. As the leading edge of the paper leaves scoring rollers 4t and 41, its outer and opposite leading edges and 65 (FIGS. 6 and 8) bend downwardly as they are not supported at this time, while the rear ends 66 and 67 cannot drop as the shaft %2 of disc 46 prevents them from doing so. Also, at this time the leading edge of paper 33 along fold line 60 is frictionally gripped (see FIG. 8) between the inner portions 59 of the V-belts and progressively pulled from between the scoring rollers 40 and 41, and then passed between rollers 53 to form a fold therein.

Because only the upper portion of paper 33 along fold line 6% passes between folding rollers 53 to form a fold in the paper, a perfect fold will be formed without any Wrinkles therein. Thus, the present invention provides a novel means for forming fold in the paper and the entire mass of paper is not passed between these rollers as is done with buckle knife folded paper. It is obvious that the folded edge 6%) is thicker than the edges 64 and 65 at this time so that if the whole mass of paper passes between the folding rolls as in a buckle fold or knife fold operation, wrinkles will occur in the paper.

Referring to FIGS. 10 to 12, sheet 33 is illustrated with printing '70 and 71 in opposite quadrants thereon and the first fold line '72 and the second fold line '73 produced in the paper are indicated by dot-dash lines. FIG. 11 illustrates sheet 33 of paper after it has passed between the rollers 13 and 14 to provide a transverse crease '72 therein while FIG. 12 illustrates the quarter fold 73 provided in the paper after it has passed between fold rollers 53 and the V-belts.

From the foregoing description of the present invention, it will be readily observed that the present invention provides a novel paper folding apparatus in which a flat sheet of paper may be double folded or quarter folded in a manner as to provide perfect creases in the finished product without any wrinkles. This is accomplished by putting the crease therein through a novel scoring operation which does not pass the entire mass of paper between them as done in conventional buckle folding and knife folding apparatus used heretofore. It is also apparent that the present invention provides an apparatus in which multiple sheets of flat paper can be converted into half or quarter folds simultaneously.

Another feature of the present invention is the fact that the fiat sheet of paper is positively gripped and controlled by the machine from the time it is introduced into the first set of pinch rollers until after the time it leaves the second set of creasing or scoring rollers, at which time it is positively gripped by V-belt means and thereafter positively gripped until it leaves the second fold rollers.

It is another advantage of the present invention that the apparatus may be readily attached to existing collator machines already in the field to provide a quick and inexpensive and novel manner of quarter folding sheets of paper without producing wrinkles therein.

It is also apparent that the present invention provides a folding apparatus for making a half fold which can be attached to a collator machine which consists of mating idler crease rollers, one of which is a disc type roller, to crease a piece of paper along a predetermined line, and a V-belt train carried by folding rollers adjacent the discharge side of said idler crease rollers and one of said creasing rollers. The V-belt train serves to grip the leading edge of the paper to pull it from between the idler crease rollers and feed it between the folding rollers to fold the paper in half without wrinkles. Thus, it is seen that this half fold device can be used by itself, and it is not necessary that the first pair of mating cylindrical folding rollers and its guide means 6 described hereinbefore be used with these novel crease rollers and V-belt train roller arrangement. It will also be noted that the paper fed between the idler crease rollers is always positively gripped by these rollers, the V-belt train, or the folding rollers.

Inasmuch as various changes may be made in the form, location and relative arrangement of the several parts without departing from the essential characteristics of the invention, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited except by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Folding apparatus for folding a flat sheet of mate rial in two comprising complementary scoring rollers including a substantially cylindrical roller and a disc roller disposed below said cylindrical roller and each mounted for rotation about substantially horizontally extending axes for receiving a sheet of material therebetween to form a crease in the sheet of material which extends substantially parallel with the direction of feed, means for feeding a sheet of material between said rollers in one direction of feed, a pair of endless belts, means supporting and mounting said belts for movement during operation so that each of said belts defines a substantially horizontally disposed run extending from a point closely adjacent the discharge side of said scoring rollers to a point remote from said rollers, said runs of said belts being spaced apart adjacent said rollers and converging toward one another in a direction away from said rollers to said remote point at which the runs are closely adjacent to one another, said runs being positioned to engage the upper surface of a sheet fed through said rollers at either side of the crease line formed therein as the sheet leaves said rollers and serving as the sole support for said sheet during its movement between said scoring rollers and said remote point, the portions of the sheet adjacent said crease line being progressively forced toward one another by the said runs of the belts as the sheet moves in the direction of feed, there being free spaces beneath said runs at opposite sides thereof to permit the lateral edges of the sheet to drop downwardly under the influence of gravity such that as the sheet passes between said runs at said remote point, only the upper portion of the sheet passes therebetween to form a erfect fold without any wrinkles therein.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for feeding a sheet of material between said scoring rollers comprises a pair of pinch rollers mounted for rotation about substantially horizontally extending axes and being disposed transversely of the direction of feed of a sheet of material, vertically reciprocating knife means for feeding a sheet of material between said pinch rollers to form a first fold in the sheet of material, and guide means disposed adjacent the discharge side of said pinch rollers for turning the direction of feed of the sheet of material from vertical to substantially horizontal movement as it leaves said pinch rollers for feeding between said scoring rollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 247,922 Jones Oct. 4, 1881 752,853 Nind et a1 Feb. 23, 1904 2,007,209 Neidig July 9, 1935 2,054,426 Kahn Sept. 15, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 386,372 Great Britain Jan. 19, 1933 

1. FOLDING APPARATUS FOR FOLDING A FLAT SHEET OF MATERIAL IN TWO COMPRISING COMPLEMENTARY SCORING ROLLERS INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL ROLLER AND A DISC ROLLER DISPOSED BELOW SAID CYLINDRICAL ROLLER AND EACH MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING AXES FOR RECEIVING A SHEET OF MATERIAL THEREBETWEEN TO FORM A CREASE IN THE SHEET OF MATERIAL WHICH EXTENDS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH THE DIRECTION OF FEED, MEANS FOR FEEDING A SHEET OF MATERIAL BETWEEN SAID ROLLERS IN ONE DIRECTION OF FEED, A PAIR OF ENDLESS BELTS, MEANS SUPPORTING AND MOUNTING SAID BELTS FOR MOVEMENT DURING OPERATION SO THAT EACH OF SAID BELTS DEFINES A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED RUN EXTENDING FROM A POINT CLOSELY ADJACENT THE DISCHARGE SIDE OF SAID SCORING ROLLERS TO A POINT REMOTE FROM SAID ROLLERS, SAID RUNS OF SAID BELTS BEING SPACED APART ADJACENT SAID ROLLERS AND CONVERGING TOWARD ONE ANOTHER IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID ROLLERS TO SAID REMOTE POINT AT WHICH THE RUNS ARE CLOSELY ADJACENT TO ONE ANOTHER, SAID RUNS BEING POSITIONED TO ENGAGE THE UPPER SURFACE OF A SHEET FED THROUGH SAID 